They started the day at the Vanderbilt mansion. The grounds were beautiful – expansive green lawns, huge old trees, and a gorgeous view of the Hudson River below. Girlawhirl thought that if she lived closer, she'd take advantage of the fact that access to the grounds is free and spend the occasional day there with a good book and a picnic basket. But she and her Pal were there to see the house, so they joined one of the tours run by the National Park Service.

Stepping inside the 50-room mansion is like stepping back in time. Visitors walk into the elliptical reception hall dominated by a huge fireplace imported from an Italian palace – one of 22 working fireplaces in the house. The first floor is full of European antique pieces and tapestries hang on most of the walls. A grand stairway twists up to the second floor where each guest room has a different color scheme and the Vanderbilts had their bedrooms. Mrs. Vanderbilt, who loved everything French, had her bedroom modeled after Marie Antoinette's chamber at Versailles. Girlawhirl imagined herself arriving by private rail car in the early 1900s to be a guest at one of Frederick and Louis Vanderbilt's small gatherings – never more than 18 – on a spring or fall weekend – they had other homes in New York City and Newport, Rhode Island that they used in summer and winter.

After exploring the house, Girlawhirl and her Pal made sure to take a stroll through the beautiful Italian Gardens just a short walk south from the mansion before moving on to their next historical stop – the home of Franklin D. Roosevelt.

 The house itself is not as grand as the Vanderbilt mansion but it's got the same beautiful views of the Hudson River and there's a lot more history there. Inside the home, Girlawhirl saw the bedroom where FDR grew up, the elevator he used to hoist himself between floors after polio confined him to a wheelchair, and the mirror the secret service installed outside the president's bedroom so they could see everyone coming and going on the second floor. But Girlawhirl's favorite tidbit about the house involves the color of the shutters. The home remained in Franklin's mother, Sara's, name until 1941 and she stipulated in her will that the shutters should always be painted the same color – her favorite, Newport Green.

Near the house, the gravesite of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt sits in the middle of a rose garden. The Presidential Library and Museum is also on the grounds. Designed by FDR himself, it's home to his presidential papers as well as his many personal collections, and his 1936 Ford Phaeton, which was specially equipped with hand controls so he could drive it and with a custom gadget that dispensed a lit cigarette at the push of a button.

Both the Vanderbilt Mansion and the Home of FDR are part of the National Park Service. For more information on them go to nps.gov.

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